The Heart Collectors Strum Their Way To Buskers By The Creek

Australian folk group The Heart Collectors will be performing at this year's Buskers By The Creek event on the Gold Coast.

“We are very excited, we performed once a couple of years ago at the festival,” Mobius Barnaby (strings, vocals) says. “It was an incredible event, so we are delighted to be a part of it this year.”

Inspired by the sounds of the '60s and '70s, The Heart Collectors have been creating music for the past three years.

Joining Mobius are other members Tristan Dafoe (banjo, mandolin, vocals), Kymrie Henge (lead vocals, percussion) and Reuben Loire (guitar, vocals). “We were all musicians and artists in our own right, we were all doing our own projects,” Mobius says about how the group formed.

“We knew each other from the [local] area and [the band] came together quite spontaneously,” he says. “We gave it a go and it just felt very natural for us to play together.”

With their second album, 2015's ‘Listen’, recorded in Austin, Texas, The Heart Collectors have quickly become local favourites with two appearances at South By Southwest (2016, 2017). “We were travelling through Texas and we met some really wonderful people.

"We were very fortunate to meet some people who had a studio… they really liked our music and they gave us the opportunity to go and record.”

In late 2016, The Heart Collectors returned to Texas to record their most recent album ‘Back To The Garden’. “We released it in March and then we headed to Texas to play at the South By Southwest music festival and we launched the new album there, followed by a tour in UK and Ireland,” Mobius says.

“A lot of people have been coming to see us, so it’s always very exciting to go back to South By Southwest; it really is an incredible event and we love it.”

For the last two years, The Heart Collectors have curated the indie-folk O’ Heart Festival, which takes place in Tyalgum in northern NSW each August. “There are so many talents in this region [Northern Rivers]; we wanted to create an environment for like-minded musicians.

"As well as music, the O’ Heart Festival is also a wellness festival focussing on environment awareness, which is something we are very passionate about.”

The Heart Collectors have planned a 2018 international tour across USA, England, Ireland and Europe. “We have been invited back to South By Southwest and then we have 60 gigs booked across America. Followed by two months in Europe, starting in England, Ireland, Italy and France.

“We are really excited to be on the road again, we are excited about our music and we are just going to keep going where the energy is.”

The Heart Collectors are also planning to begin work on their next studio album in 2018.

The Heart Collectors perform at Buskers By The Creek (Gold Coast) 14-15 October.